I'm bummed.
The little dude has a pretty bad head cold, and he is the king of snot-covered yuckiness. This is on the tails of a two and a half day hunger strike that he executed while I was in Michigan. Needless to say, I think the two may be related.
I'm frustrated that he did not eat well while I was away. Yes, I can expect he'll be grumpy while I'm not around. He hates the bottle, is used to having me here, and generally is a creature of habit. But to eat about 1/5th his normal amount of food, and probably less than that of milk, while I was out of town is really pretty bad. Matt fears he got dehydrated, despite his love for drinking water out of a cup. The dehydration of course led to some issues with constipation. Which made Cooper even grumpier, which compounded the whole thing.
The good news is that when I got home on Friday, and for all of Saturday, Cooper was as happy, bouncy, and giggly as ever. He was able to fix his constipation issues (lots of yucky diapers as my "welcome home" gift) and ate a ton both days. Around midnight last night (Saturday) he woke up with a really congested nose and a pitiful little sneezy cough thing, and since then he's been running a low fever for part of the day and generally kinda sick. His mood is OK, so I know he's not totally miserable, but all three of us had a horrible night of 45 minute spans of sleep and lots of snot covered blankets.
I feel so bad for the little guy. I hope he gets better soon. The last time this happened he was much better in only a day or two, so I am really hoping for that kind of rapid turn around. If not, I'm going to be alone on a plane with a sniffly, snotty, sneezy, and grumpy baby. I'll be the most popular person there!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
704
It is official.
Cooper has gone through his first megabox of wipes that we bought from Costco. This means that he's had 704 wipes used upon him in just under eight months. That comes to 2.93 wipes per day, in case you were interested.
Also of interest is that today while I was on the phone with my father, Cooper decided to climb the stairs. He's been thinking about it for a few days now, but this morning was the first time that he actually executed the maneuver of getting all the way onto the first step and then standing up on it. He immediately almost fell down that one step. This evening he climbed up that same step and started trying to tackle the next one... uh oh!
Cooper has gone through his first megabox of wipes that we bought from Costco. This means that he's had 704 wipes used upon him in just under eight months. That comes to 2.93 wipes per day, in case you were interested.
Also of interest is that today while I was on the phone with my father, Cooper decided to climb the stairs. He's been thinking about it for a few days now, but this morning was the first time that he actually executed the maneuver of getting all the way onto the first step and then standing up on it. He immediately almost fell down that one step. This evening he climbed up that same step and started trying to tackle the next one... uh oh!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Today is the day
Here is a thought.
I know lots, and lots, of people with little kids, babies, and/or pregnant bellies. Missoula is a great place to raise a family. But Montana doesn't have the greatest economy, and jobs are kind of limited here unless you are in real estate. Wait- scratch that. Even real estate has tanked.
I know a few stay at home moms. Maybe... hmmm... five? And you know what? They are all on some form of public assistance (WIC, s-CHIP, whatever). These are college educated women, with supportive and employed husbands.
That was the state of the economy BEFORE the crash this fall.
So yeah- it is a big day today.
I know lots, and lots, of people with little kids, babies, and/or pregnant bellies. Missoula is a great place to raise a family. But Montana doesn't have the greatest economy, and jobs are kind of limited here unless you are in real estate. Wait- scratch that. Even real estate has tanked.
I know a few stay at home moms. Maybe... hmmm... five? And you know what? They are all on some form of public assistance (WIC, s-CHIP, whatever). These are college educated women, with supportive and employed husbands.
That was the state of the economy BEFORE the crash this fall.
So yeah- it is a big day today.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Hair surprises
My post-partum hair loss reached it most disgusting peak around 4 or 5 months out. I got a nice haircut around 6 months, and the hair dresser told me that he could tell I'd had pretty severe post-partum losses because my scalp was covered in regrowth.
Jump ahead to now. I got out of the shower the other day and realized two things; it was freezing cold out (about 25) and I needed to spend some time outdoors (fun pre- ski season festival in the outdoors). So I used the blow drier for the first time since about last winter.
Matt and I both started laughing out loud when I finished drying my hair. All over my scalp was a coat of fuzz at about 1 to 1 1/2 inches long. The most obvious was near the border with my forehead, where the regrowth was so thick and obvious that it looks like I cut myself some really short bangs.
I stuck a ski cap on and called it good. It is a lot of short cute fuzzy regrowth. I'm glad it will be back to normal soon.
Jump ahead to now. I got out of the shower the other day and realized two things; it was freezing cold out (about 25) and I needed to spend some time outdoors (fun pre- ski season festival in the outdoors). So I used the blow drier for the first time since about last winter.
Matt and I both started laughing out loud when I finished drying my hair. All over my scalp was a coat of fuzz at about 1 to 1 1/2 inches long. The most obvious was near the border with my forehead, where the regrowth was so thick and obvious that it looks like I cut myself some really short bangs.
I stuck a ski cap on and called it good. It is a lot of short cute fuzzy regrowth. I'm glad it will be back to normal soon.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Letting go
He's letting go.
In the last two days, I've watched Cooper let go of furniture with both hands and stand unsupported for a few seconds. He gets this look of total pride and thrill in his eyes- and then he either grabs something to steady himself, or crashes violently to the floor.
Three times now he's bloodied his upper lip on his giant beaver teeth from falling awkwardly, which results in screaming, bleeding, and then some light whimpering. I feel bad for him, but I can't catch him 100% of the time. I figure his violent falling phase will pass pretty soon. Or at least I hope so. My guess is that he'll figure out how to stand steadily in a few more days, which at this rate will be 1 or 2 more bloody lips.
In the last two days, I've watched Cooper let go of furniture with both hands and stand unsupported for a few seconds. He gets this look of total pride and thrill in his eyes- and then he either grabs something to steady himself, or crashes violently to the floor.
Three times now he's bloodied his upper lip on his giant beaver teeth from falling awkwardly, which results in screaming, bleeding, and then some light whimpering. I feel bad for him, but I can't catch him 100% of the time. I figure his violent falling phase will pass pretty soon. Or at least I hope so. My guess is that he'll figure out how to stand steadily in a few more days, which at this rate will be 1 or 2 more bloody lips.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
God and Country
We get a lot of Obama volunteers in my neighborhood, which is nice but distracting. Because I work from home, and my dog freaks out when someone knocks on the door, I pretty much have to say Hi to all of them and tell them to go on their merry way.
Yesterday, I was on a conference call (on mute, thank god) and I saw two women holding notebooks coming towards my house. I had Cooper on my hip, the headset on for the conference call and was wrestling the dog when I opened the door. I smiled nicely and told them, as I tell all of them, we already did 'early voting' and thanks for dropping by.
They looked at me blankly. I looked at them. And then, a realization. They were holding bibles, not voter registration forms. I had just opened my door to the mormons! NooooOooooOooooo!
Without thinking, I blurted out, "Oh jesus, you're not Obama canvassers, are you... sorry, we don't believe in God. But you have a good day." And then I shut the door in their faces. Shut, not slammed. And then I cringed.
Yesterday, I was on a conference call (on mute, thank god) and I saw two women holding notebooks coming towards my house. I had Cooper on my hip, the headset on for the conference call and was wrestling the dog when I opened the door. I smiled nicely and told them, as I tell all of them, we already did 'early voting' and thanks for dropping by.
They looked at me blankly. I looked at them. And then, a realization. They were holding bibles, not voter registration forms. I had just opened my door to the mormons! NooooOooooOooooo!
Without thinking, I blurted out, "Oh jesus, you're not Obama canvassers, are you... sorry, we don't believe in God. But you have a good day." And then I shut the door in their faces. Shut, not slammed. And then I cringed.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Getting things done
Cooper is starting to nap a bit less, and be a heck of a lot more demanding i.e. destructive and active. At the same time, Matt's school and internship schedule are getting crazy.
Thus, I've hired a part-time nanny! Yikes! Her name is Nicole, and she's a really nice college student that I used to teach a few years ago when I was a TA. She's also worked for a friend of mine for a few summers, so I know she's really good natured and dependable. Right now we are doing two afternoons a week of her "hanging with Mr. Cooper." They go for walks, hang out at the park, and make a mess out of the living room. It works out pretty well- it sure isn't cheap, but it is cheaper than daycare, pretty hassle free, and he probably won't get the million colds, stomach bugs, and so forth that he'd get if he was with lots of other kids.
This provides me with more motivation to get work done while she is around, as well as more motivation to get our baby gear all set for winter. Nicole is from Alaska, so she's excited to take Cooper cross country skiing. Gotta get him a warm little ride-along sled! Fun!
Thus, I've hired a part-time nanny! Yikes! Her name is Nicole, and she's a really nice college student that I used to teach a few years ago when I was a TA. She's also worked for a friend of mine for a few summers, so I know she's really good natured and dependable. Right now we are doing two afternoons a week of her "hanging with Mr. Cooper." They go for walks, hang out at the park, and make a mess out of the living room. It works out pretty well- it sure isn't cheap, but it is cheaper than daycare, pretty hassle free, and he probably won't get the million colds, stomach bugs, and so forth that he'd get if he was with lots of other kids.
This provides me with more motivation to get work done while she is around, as well as more motivation to get our baby gear all set for winter. Nicole is from Alaska, so she's excited to take Cooper cross country skiing. Gotta get him a warm little ride-along sled! Fun!
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